U.S. patent application number 11/177177 was filed with the patent office on 2005-11-03 for disk control system and control method of disk control system.
This patent application is currently assigned to Hitachi, Ltd.. Invention is credited to Nakamura, Yasuaki, Shimada, Akinobu, Tabuchi, Hideo.
Application Number | 20050246490 11/177177 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 32767619 |
Filed Date | 2005-11-03 |
United States Patent
Application |
20050246490 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Nakamura, Yasuaki ; et
al. |
November 3, 2005 |
Disk control system and control method of disk control system
Abstract
In order to assign logical devices efficiently to logical units,
a disk control system that receives a process command for writing
or reading of data from an information processing device, and
performs a write or read process of data with respect to a logical
device corresponding to a logical unit specified by that process
command, includes means for managing logical devices, which are
logical storage regions that have been set in a storage region
provided by a disk drive, means for storing a correspondence
between logical units, which are storage regions that have been set
logically, and the logical devices, and means for assigning, when a
process command has been received for a logical unit to which no
logical device has been assigned, a logical device to that logical
unit and performing processing with regard to that logical
device.
Inventors: |
Nakamura, Yasuaki; (Tokyo,
JP) ; Shimada, Akinobu; (Tokyo, JP) ; Tabuchi,
Hideo; (Tokyo, JP) |
Correspondence
Address: |
TOWNSEND AND TOWNSEND AND CREW, LLP
TWO EMBARCADERO CENTER
EIGHTH FLOOR
SAN FRANCISCO
CA
94111-3834
US
|
Assignee: |
Hitachi, Ltd.
Tokyo
JP
|
Family ID: |
32767619 |
Appl. No.: |
11/177177 |
Filed: |
July 7, 2005 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
11177177 |
Jul 7, 2005 |
|
|
|
10643312 |
Aug 18, 2003 |
|
|
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Current U.S.
Class: |
711/114 ;
711/202 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F 3/0644 20130101;
G06F 3/0605 20130101; G06F 3/067 20130101; G06F 3/0689 20130101;
G06F 3/0665 20130101; G06F 3/0631 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
711/114 ;
711/202 |
International
Class: |
G06F 012/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Feb 4, 2003 |
JP |
2003-027208 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A disk control system that receives a process command for
writing or reading of data from an information processing device,
and performs a write or read process of data with respect to a
logical device corresponding to a logical unit specified by that
process command, comprising: means for managing, as units, logical
devices, which are logical storage regions that have been set in a
storage region provided by a disk drive; means for storing a
correspondence between said logical devices and logical units,
which are storage regions that have been set logically; means for
assigning, when a process command has been received for a logical
unit to which no logical device has been assigned, a logical device
to that logical unit and performing processing with regard to that
logical device; and means for responding to said information
processing device, when a process command that does not cause a
process with regard to a logical device has been received from said
information processing device, by performing a process
corresponding to that process command without performing said
assignment.
2. A control method for a disk control system that manages, as
units, logical devices, which are logical storage regions that have
been set in a storage region provided by a disk drive, that stores
a correspondence between said logical devices and logical units,
which are storage regions that have been set logically, that
receives a process command that has been sent from an information
processing device, and that performs processing with respect to a
logical device corresponding to the logical unit specified by that
process command, the control method comprising: a first step of
receiving a process command for a logical unit to which no logical
device has been assigned; a second step of assigning to that
logical unit a logical device, when in said first step a process
command has been received for a logical unit to which no logical
device has been assigned; and a third step of performing said
process command with regard to the logical device that has been
assigned in said second step.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] The present application claims priority upon Japanese Patent
Application No. 2003-027208 filed on Feb. 4, 2003, which is herein
incorporated by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] The present invention relates to disk control systems and
control methods of disk control systems.
[0004] 2. Related Art
[0005] As a method for supplying a storage region from a disk array
device to a computer using the same, there is the method of setting
logical devices (referred to in the following as "LDEVs"), which
are logical storage regions that have been set in the storage
region provided by the disk drives, and assigning these logical
devices to logical units (referred to in the following as "LUs"),
which are identifiers of the storage region that are given by the
computer.
[0006] This assignment of logical devices to logical units is
currently performed by a manual operation in which the operator
operates a management terminal of the disk array device in
accordance with such circumstances as the needs of the computer's
user or the operation mode of the disk array device (see for
example JP 2001-337850A).
[0007] However, with the recent advancements in the IT industry,
the number of disk drives with which disk array devices are
equipped has increased sharply, so that there is the problem that
the operator is forced to set an enormous number of LUs and LDEVs
in the operation of disk array devices, and this poses a
considerable managerial burden. Moreover, with storage
virtualization, there is a need for technology for assigning
storage regions economically in accordance with the actual state of
utilization.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] In view of the above-described circumstances, it is a main
object of the present invention to provide an improved disk control
system and control method for a disk control system.
[0009] To achieve this object, in one aspect of the present
invention, a disk control system that receives a process command
for writing or reading of data from an information processing
device, and performs a write or read process of data with respect
to a logical device corresponding to a logical unit specified by
that process command, includes:
[0010] means for managing, as units, logical devices, which are
logical storage regions that have been set in a storage region
provided by a disk drive;
[0011] means for storing a correspondence between the logical
devices and logical units, which are storage regions that have been
set logically; and
[0012] means for assigning, when a process command has been
received for a logical unit to which no logical device has been
assigned, a logical device to that logical unit and performing
processing with regard to that logical device.
[0013] Features and objects of the present invention other than the
above will become clear by reading the description of the present
specification with reference to the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0014] For a more complete understanding of the present invention
and the advantages thereof, reference is now made to the following
description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings
wherein:
[0015] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a storage
system in accordance with a working example of the present
invention;
[0016] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the relationship between the
ports, the LUs assigned to the ports, and the LDEVs assigned to the
LUs, in a working example of the present invention;
[0017] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of a
disk array device, in accordance with a working example of the
present invention;
[0018] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of an LU mapping
table, in accordance with a working example of the present
invention;
[0019] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a global LU
mapping table, in accordance with a working example of the present
invention;
[0020] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a global LDEV
table, in accordance with a working example of the present
invention;
[0021] FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating the principle of a type I
process command, in accordance with a working example of the
present invention;
[0022] FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating the processing of the
disk array device in the case that the type II process command is
"Write" (data write command), in accordance with a working example
of the present invention;
[0023] FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating the principle of a type II
process command, in accordance with a working example of the
present invention;
[0024] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of an
assignment method, in accordance with a working example of the
present invention, for the case that the storage capacity set for
the LUs is larger than the storage capacity of the LDEVS; and
[0025] FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating the processing of the
disk array device in the case that the type II process command is
"Read" (data read command), in accordance with a working example of
the present invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0026] At least the following matters will be made clear by the
explanation in the present specification and the description of the
accompanying drawings.
[0027] Overview of the Disclosure At least the following matters
will be made clear from the following disclosure:
[0028] The logical devices correspond to the above-mentioned LDEVs,
for example. The logical units correspond to the above-mentioned
LUs, for example. The process commands may be commands as specified
by the SCSI (small computer system interface) standard. The disk
control system may be, for example, a disk array device as
explained below.
[0029] With the disk control system of the present invention, when
a process request has been received for a logical unit to which no
logical device has been assigned, then a logical device is
automatically assigned to that logical unit, so that there is no
need for an operator or the like to manually assign an LDEV to that
LU, and the operator is freed from such assignment tasks. Moreover,
by adopting a configuration with which the storage devices are
assigned when there is a data writing request, the storage region
provided by the disk drives can be utilized efficiently.
[0030] In one aspect of the present invention, the disk control
system further includes means for responding to the information
processing device, when a process command that does not cause a
process with regard to the logical device has been received from
the information processing device, by performing a process
corresponding to that process command without performing the
assignment.
[0031] Here, a "process command that does not cause a process with
regard to the logical device", is, as explained below, for example
a command such as "Report LUN," "Inquiry," or "Read Capacity" in
accordance with the SCSI standard. These commands are commands
requesting information regarding the logical unit, so that even if
no logical device is associated with that logical unit, a response
to that command can be sent back to the information processing
device. Consequently, if a process command is received for a
logical unit to which no logical device has been assigned, then
limited storage resources can be utilized efficiently without
assigning a logical device to that logical unit when receiving such
commands. Furthermore, since no processing is performed with regard
to the assigning of logical devices, a response can be sent back
quickly to the information processing device.
[0032] In another aspect of the present invention, the disk control
system further includes means for assigning a plurality of the
logical devices to one of the logical units, and means for
assigning to that logical unit only a number of the logical devices
that is necessary in order to perform the processing corresponding
to the process command.
[0033] For example, if the storage region of the logical units is
larger than the storage region of the logical devices, and the
process command is a command for only a portion of the storage
region of a logical unit, then there is the possibility that
logical devices are needlessly taken up if logical devices are
assigned to across the entire storage region of the logical unit.
On the other hand, by assigning a plurality of logical devices to
one logical unit, there is the possibility to assign, in steps,
only the necessary number of logical devices to the logical unit,
so that limited storage resources can be utilized more
efficiently.
[0034] In another aspect of the present invention, the disk control
system further includes means for sending to the information
processing device a message indicating that the process command
cannot be processed, if there is no logical device that can be
assigned to the logical unit.
[0035] Thus, the information processing device can be made aware of
the fact that the disk control system cannot process the processing
command.
[0036] In another aspect of the present invention, the disk control
system further includes means for sending to the information
processing device a message indicating that reading is impossible,
if a process command requesting the reading of data from a logical
unit to which no logical device has been assigned has been received
from the information processing device.
[0037] Thus, the information processing device can be made aware of
the fact that the disk control system cannot read out the data.
[0038] In another aspect of the present invention, if the disk
control system has received a process command for the logical unit,
and if a logical device is assigned to the logical unit, a process
corresponding to the process command is performed with regard to
that logical device, and, if no logical device is assigned to the
logical unit, a logical device is assigned to the logical unit and
a process corresponding to the process command is performed with
regard to that logical device.
[0039] Thus, if no logical device is assigned to the logical unit,
a logical device is automatically assigned to the logical unit, and
the managerial burden on the operator is alleviated.
[0040] In another aspect of the present invention, if the disk
control system has received a process command for the logical unit,
then, if a logical device has been assigned to that logical unit, a
process corresponding to that process command is performed with
that logical device; if no logical device has been assigned to that
logical unit and that process command is a command that does not
cause a process with regard to the logical device, a process
corresponding to that process command is performed without
assigning a logical device to that logical unit; and if no logical
device has been assigned to that logical unit and that process
command is a command that causes a process with regard to the
logical device, a logical device is assigned to the logical unit
and a process corresponding to that process command is performed
with regard to that logical device.
[0041] Thus, if no logical device is assigned to the logical unit,
and the process command is a command that does not cause a process
with regard to the logical device, then a process corresponding to
this process command is performed without assigning a logical
device to the logical unit, so that a flexible response to process
commands becomes possible, and it can be prevented that logical
devices are needlessly assigned.
[0042] System Configuration
[0043] FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a storage system explained
as a working example of the present invention. A disk array device
10 and server computers 20 are connected via fibre channel switches
30. The server computers 20, which are examples of information
processing devices, are open-system computers, that is, personal
computers or work stations running an open-system OS (operating
system). The disk array device 10 includes a plurality of ports 11,
which are connected to ports of the fibre channel switches 30, as
well as disk drives 12, and a server processor 13.
[0044] The storage region provided by the disk drives 12 is managed
in units of logical devices (referred to as "LDEVS" in the
following), which are logical storage regions that have been set in
this storage region. The disk drives 12 may be controlled in RAID
(redundant array of inexpensive disks) format, in which case the
LDEVs are arranged in RAID groups, which are storage regions
provided in the RAID format. It should be noted that in FIG. 1, a
configuration is shown in which the disk drives 12 are accommodated
within the casing of the disk array device 10, but it is also
possible to accommodate them in a casing that is separate from that
of the disk array device 10.
[0045] The server computers 20 specify the storage region provided
by the disk drives 12 in units referred to as logical units ("LUs"
in the following). Each LU is given a LUN (logical unit number),
which is a unique identifier. In the server computers 20, the LUNs
may be drive names, for example, or they may be device file names,
as explained below.
[0046] The specifications for each LU, such as the storage
capacity, are set by the operator of the disk array device 10, and
stored in a memory (not shown in the drawings) with which the disk
array device 10 is provided. Alternatively, the LU specifications
defined by the user with the server computers 20 may be stored in a
memory.
[0047] One or more LUs are assigned to each of the ports 11. One or
more LDEVs are assigned to an LU. FIG. 2 shows the correspondence
relationship between the ports 11, the LUs assigned to the ports
11, and the LDEVs assigned to the LUs. It should be noted that the
assignment of the LUs to the ports 11 and of the LDEVs to the LUs
is sometimes referred to as "path definition."
[0048] The assignment of the LUs to the ports 11 and the assignment
of the LDEVs to the LUs can be performed by the operator from the
service processor 13. The assignment of the LDEVs to the LUs can
also be performed automatically, as will be explained below.
[0049] Explanation of the Processing
[0050] The following is an explanation of the processing performed
in the disk array device 10 when a process command in pursuance
with the SCSI standard has been received that has been sent from
the server computers 20 via the fibre channel switches 30.
[0051] The following explanations refer to FIG. 3, which is a
schematic diagram of the disk array device 10. The disk array
device 10 is provided with control processors 14 and local memories
151 corresponding to the ports 11. Moreover, the disk array device
10 is provided with a shared memory 152, which can be referenced by
the control processors 14. It should be noted that the disk array
device 10 may also be provided with a cache memory (not shown in
the drawings), or other type of memory, used to read or write data
from or into the disk drives 12.
[0052] The disk array device 10 stores in the local memories 151 an
LU mapping table associating the LUs and DEVS. FIG. 4 shows an
example of an LU mapping table 400. The correspondence between the
LUNs and the IDs of the LDEVs ("LDEV#" in FIG. 4) is registered in
this table.
[0053] The disk array device 10 stores in the shared memory 152 a
global LU mapping table, in which the correspondence between the
IDS of the ports 11, the LUNs and the IDs of the LDEVs ("LDEV#" in
FIG. 5) is registered. FIG. 5 shows an example of a global LU
mapping table. Furthermore, the disk array device 10 stores in the
shared memory 152 a global LDEV table tracking whether an LDEV has
already been assigned to an LU by setting a flag in correspondence
to the IDs of the LDEVs ("LDEV#" in FIG. 6). FIG. 6 shows an
example of a global LDEV table 600.
[0054] The process commands in pursuance with the SCSI standard
that are sent from the server computers 20 can be broadly
classified into process commands that do not cause an input/output
process of data with respect to the LDEVs, such as "Report LUN,"
"Inquiry," or "Read Capacity," (referred to as "type I process
commands" in the following) and process commands that do cause an
input/output process of data with respect to the LDEVs, such as
"Write" (data write command) or "Read" (data read command)
(referred to as "type II process commands" in the following). The
following is a more detailed explanation of the processing when
type I or type II process commands are received with the disk array
device 10.
[0055] (1) Type I Process Commands
[0056] The following is an explanation of the processing of the
disk array device 10, when a type I process command has been
received. FIG. 7 illustrates the principle of a type I process
command. In this example, a file system such as NFS (network file
system) is operated on a server computer, and the LUNs are
associated with device files in this file system. In FIG. 7,
"/dev/rdsk/c0t1d2" is a device file name, wherein "/dev/rdsk/" is
the directory name. Furthermore, "c0" is an identifier for the HBA
(host bus adapter) of the server computer, and is ordinarily the
WWN (world wide name) of the HBA. "t1" is the ID of the port to
which the LU belongs, and "d2" is the LUN.
[0057] In this example, a type I process command is sent from a
server computer 20 via the HBA and the port 11 to the disk array
10, for the LUN associated with the device file. In FIG. 7,
"virtual LUN" is a LUN for an LU to which no LDEV has yet been
assigned. It should be noted that an LU to which no LDEV has been
assigned is an LU in which the field LDEV in the global LU mapping
table 500 in FIG. 5 has been set to "NULL".
[0058] If the disk array device 10 receives a type I process
command, it generates response data including the necessary
information for responding to this process command, and the
response data is sent to the server computer 20. Here, the
processing for a type I process command is carried out also when
the process command is for an LU to which no LDEV has yet been
assigned. The information included in the response data may be
stored by the disk array device 10, or it may be collected by the
disk array device 10 when a process command is received.
[0059] (2) Type II Process Commands
[0060] The following is an explanation of the processing of the
disk array device 10, when a type II process command has been
received.
[0061] First, referring to the flowchart in FIG. 8, the case where
the type II process command is "Write" (data write command) is
explained. When the disk array device 10 receives a data write
command from the server computer 20 (S811), it references the LU
mapping table 400 in FIG. 4, and determines whether an LDEV has
been assigned to the LU specified by this data write command
(S812).
[0062] If an LDEV has been assigned (S812: YES), then the control
processor 14 performs the data writing for this data write command
with this LDEV (S813).
[0063] On the other hand, if no LDEV has been assigned (S812: NO),
then the control processor 14 retrieves a non-assigned LDEV from
the global LDEV table 600 in the shared memory 152, assigns the
retrieved LDEV to the LU specified with this data writing request,
and sets the flag for that LDEV in the global LDEV table 600 to ON
("1") (path definition; S814).
[0064] FIG. 9 illustrates the principle of a type II process
command. It should be noted that this retrieval algorithm and the
selection algorithm deciding which LDEV is selected in case that a
plurality of LDEVs have been retrieved can be set in accordance
with such circumstances as the user needs and the operation mode of
the disk array device 10.
[0065] Next, the control processor 14 registers the identifier of
the assigned LDEV by associating the LDEV with the corresponding LU
of the global LU mapping table 500 in the shared memory 152 (S815).
Moreover, the control processor 14 registers the identifier of the
LDEV that has been assigned to the corresponding LU of the LU
mapping table in the local memory 151 corresponding to that control
processor 14 (S816). Then, after that processing, the control
processor 14 writes the data for that data write command into the
assigned LDEV (S813).
[0066] It should be noted that if all LDEVs have been assigned and
a data write command is received for an LU to which no LDEV has
been assigned, then a message to the effect that assignment is not
possible may be sent to the server computer 20.
[0067] Moreover, the storage capacity of the LUs may be set such
that it is the same as the storage capacity of the LDEVS, but it
may also be set to a storage capacity that is different from that
of the LDEVs.
[0068] FIG. 10 shows an example of an assignment method for the
case that the storage capacity of the LUs has been set larger than
the storage capacity of the LDEVs. In FIG. 10, a storage region
specified by the LBA (logical block address) 0 . . . 2000 is set
for the LU with the LUN "LU0," and LDEVs provided with a storage
region with a capacity that is specified by LBA 0 . . . 1000 are
assigned as the storage region of this LU.
[0069] Furthermore, in this example, two LDEVs are automatically
assigned to the LU. That is to say, first, the disk array device 10
receives a data write command 1011 for the LBA 0 . . . 100 from the
server computer 20, and a number of LDEVs covering a storage
capacity corresponding to this LBA 0 . . . 100 (here, one LDEV) are
assigned to the storage region corresponding to LBA 0 . . . 1000 of
the LU. Then, the disk array device 10 receives a data write
command 1012 for the LBA 500 . . . 1500 from the server computer
20, and since the command cannot be handled with only the LDEV that
has already been assigned, a new LDEV is assigned as the storage
region corresponding to LBA 1000 . . . 2000 of the LU.
[0070] As has been explained above, with the disk array device 10
of this working example, LDEVs are assigned to LUs to which no LDEV
has yet been assigned only after a data write command for that LU
has been received. That is to say, an LDEV is assigned to an LU
only when it has become necessary, which enhances the efficient
utilization of the storage region provided by the LDEVS, that is,
the disk drives 12. Furthermore, the assignment of LDEVs to LUs is
carried out automatically in this manner by the disk array device
10, so that also the managerial burden on the user or the operator
is alleviated tremendously.
[0071] Referring to the flowchart in FIG. 11, the following is an
explanation of the case that the type II process command is a data
read command ("Read"). When the disk array device 10 receives a
data read command from the server computers 20 (S1111), it
references the LU mapping table 400, and determines whether an LDEV
is assigned to the LU specified by this data read command
(S1112).
[0072] If an LDEV is assigned (S112: YES), the control processor 14
reads out the data from the LDEV in accordance with this data read
command (S1113).
[0073] On the other hand, if no LDEV is assigned (S1112: NO), then
the control processor 14 sends to the server computer 20 a message
stating that the processing of this data read command is not
possible (S1114).
[0074] The foregoing explanations were for a disk control system in
accordance with the present invention, but the above-described
embodiments of the invention are merely given to facilitate the
understanding of the present invention, and the present invention
is not limited thereto. Modifications, improvements and equivalents
not departing from the spirit of the present invention are intended
to be included therein.
[0075] The present invention provides a disk control system and a
control method for a disk control system.
[0076] Although the preferred embodiment of the present invention
has been described in detail, it should be understood that various
changes, substitutions and alterations can be made therein without
departing from spirit and scope of the inventions as defined by the
appended claims.
* * * * *